Kaoru
The pleasure faded out of Cassie's face. "A weapon... Yeah, I guess that's what morphing is for us."
"A weapon we can share now that we have the blue box back," Jake pointed out.
Their attention slipped, shifted and locked on this new topic. Was it really a weapon? They debated using the blue box to make an army of Animorphs. I guessed they had this conversation before. I tried to follow but it's like when your parents talk politics or discuss the stock market. I didn't know enough to have an opinion and nobody asked what I thought.
Jake, Rachel, Marco, Takehiro and Cassie did most of the talking. Ax offered an occasional opinion. Todias, well, he's mostly silent. Even though he doesn't say much, I somehow never forgot he's there. I felt left out. An outsider to them. The seven of them – they're obviously a tight group.
I wonder if I'd fit in. Would I? Would I make friends with them? Just like I met friend with...Sakura?
The rain was plinking on the barn roof and the animals were rattling in their cages and Tobias was preening up in the rafters and Rachel's voice was rising as she argued a point and Marco was rolling his eyes at her when–
It all stopped.
All of it.
Every sound. Silence.
The sound of the rain. Silence.
The Animorphs in their debating poses. Frozen.
The barn full of animals. Stopped dead.
Frozen. Still. Motionless. Everything and everyone.
All except for me.
I looked up to Tobias. He had one talon off the rafters, wings half-opened for stability. Frozen in an impossible pose.
Slowly and cautiously, I moved to the door.
Raindrops hovered in the air.
I was amazed, frightened. It was as if the whole world was a video and someone hit the "pause" button.
I felt small, powerless and terribly alone. Somehow...forgotten from reality. I have an overwhelming desire to stand still, to blend in with the frozen world.
What was going on?
A raccoon stood up on its hind legs.
"YAAAAARGH!" I screamed, jumping about two feet.
Especially when the raccoon walked right through its wire cage! Simple passed through the bars like they were made of air.
I stared at the raccoon with wide eyes as it lumbered up to me. He put one black-and-white paw on my knee and looked into my eyes.
"W-What are you?" I asked. I knew it couldn't BE a raccoon. How can a raccoon walk through bars?
[ I am the Ellimist, ] he said.
He also talked?!
"Are-Are you an alien?" I asked, still trembling.
[ In a manner of speaking. ]
"Did you...stop everything?" I asked.
[ Yes. ]
"How?" I asked.
[ From your perspective, I am an all-powerful being. Human perspective however, is extremely limited. Unlike yours. ]
I wondered what he meant by that. "You stopped the rain?"
[ Yes. ]
I relaxed a hair. Almost. This, this Ellimist-whatever that was-didn't seem to mean me any harm. I think...
"Why?" I asked.
BECAUSE YOU'VE ANGERED ME!
A chill crept down my spine as my hair completely stood on ends. The sunlight blinked out. I was in total darkness. Floating in a featureless void. No up. No down. No left. No right. And the Ellimist's voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered. "Wh-What did I do?"
YOU HAVE ALTERED THE STRANDS OF SPACE-TIME.
"But I don't even know what space-time is," I protested. Then–
I saw it. A strand of light. It blinked on like a ride in a carnival.
Threads. Hundreds, thousands of them in all brilliant colours of the spectrum. Running in every direction around me. Threads streaking off into the distance, curling back inside themselves, disappearing, reappearing, twisting, ravelling and braiding. Like music, like a painting. A chaos of complication. And they were changing all the time. Moving. Growing brighter and dimmer.
It didn't make sense but it was beautiful.
"In what way did I alter?" I managed to ask.
YOU'VE ALTERED WITH YOUR OWN TRUE POWERS.
Powers? Was he referring to the Eyes of Karine?
I turned back to the changing threads.
"Is something bad going to happened because of me?" I asked, not taking my eyes away from the threads.
THAT DEPENDS.
"Depends? Depends on what?"
YOUR WORTH. YOU WILL TAKE A TEST TO MEASURE YOUR WORTH.
"What kind of test?" I asked, trying to sound brave.
DO WELL AND I WILL GIVE YOU ONE THING THAT YOU HAD DESIRED MOST.
One thing that I had desired most? That kept me thinking. Could I bring back the one thing that I have lost? Could I get Sakura back? Or maybe dad or mom? Could I?
DO POORLY AND YOU WILL DIE.
"What kind of test?" I asked again.
He didn't answer. The threads disappeared. The darkness disappeared. And a bright white void swallowed me. Then it was gone in a second.
I was surrounded by colour! Primary colours everywhere. Red, blue, yellow. Wherever I was, the place seemed to have been built of brilliantly coloured blocks like Legos.
And I wasn't alone. Coming straight towards me was a gaggle of aliens! I wanted to scream but it was struck in my throat.
Not just aliens like Hork-Bajir, Andalites, Taxxons or Yeerks. Ugly aliens. Heads thrust forward on long necks. Triangular faces with the point toward the top. Pink eyes stuck on short stalks. Gaping mouths with fat blue tongues and tiny blue tinged teeth inside.
Eight, ten of them. All thought-speaking at once.
[ Human, sell me your memories! ]
[ Come visit my nightmare theatre! ]
Their necks protruded from shoulders like flat serving platters. Two arms dropped from the shoulders. Each one was jointed three times, ending in a grasping hand made up of three claw-like fingers. The aliens' knees hinged the wrong way. The bottom part of their legs lay flat against the ground, extending forward. The feet were naked and have one long toe and two short toes. The grossest part is their midsection. It was an accordion made of veined, pink flesh. It moved up and down, wheezing and whining as the aliens begged.
[ Your eyes will fetch top dollar in the best boutiques! Especially if they are still attached to your head! ]
[ Your nose hairs are too long! I will braid them for you! ]
I shrunk back in horror and turned to run away. That's when I realised I was a dizzying distance in the air. Inches from the end of a platform with no railing. It wouldn't take me an hour to land if I would fall. More like a couple of hours. I became suddenly dizzy.
[ Watch it! ] Ax used his tail to pull me away from the edge. I nearly bit my tongue when he did that.
"Leave my kid sister alone!" Zack yelled, punching at one alien that was too close.
"Back off!" Jake said to the other aliens.
"Iskoort," Cassie said. She sounded puzzled.
I was relieved to see all seven Animorphs were present with me. Also relieved that they seemed to know where I was.
[ What are we doing here? ] Tobias demanded.
"Don't you remember?" Marco asked. "We joined the frequent fighter plane last time."
"One thing we are not doing is selling my hair," Rachel said firmly. It took me weeks to get a decent ponytail after my last Iskoort trim."
"I assume the Ellimist transported us here," someone said. I looked up to a kid. I realized I've never met this kid before. He has brown hair, just a little over his ears.
"Um, hi?" I said.
"Hi. I'm Erek King."
"Something tells me this is not a vacation," Jake said.
YOU ARE CORRECT.
I cleared my throat and got up on my feet. "Turns out this Ellimist was a little annoyed we made another Animorph," I explained nervously, fiddling with my fingers.
"Here we go again," Takehiro mumbled.
YOU WILL FIGHT THE HOWLERS AGAIN. THIS TIME IT WILL BE EIGHT AGAINST SEVEN. YOU WILL HAVE AN EXTRA ALLY – FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
"Why do I get the idea he knows something we don't?" Marco asked.
Rachel shrugged. "We won last time. How hard will it be to beat them again?"
I WILL ERASE YOUR MEMORY OF THIS PLACE. YOU WILL BEGIN THE TEST AGAIN.
"That is so not fair!" Marco said.
"What's not fair?" Jake asked.
"Huh?" Marco asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I – I don't know."
They don't remember? Was I the only one who remembers?
AND TO THE NEWEST ANIMORPH, CHOOSE YOUR MORPHS. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THOSE YOU DO NOT HAVE. SNOW LEOPARD, HORK-BAJIR, AND FLY OR ANDALITE, COURAGE AND PTYHON.
Ax's main eyes flickered toward me. Why? Does he dislike the idea of me morphing an Andalite? Or was he worried?
YOUR FRIENDS CANNOT HELP YOU. CHOOSE.
I was frustrated. "Why does it always have to be the new one that gets a lot of pressure around here?!" I screamed.
CHOOSE.
Why me? I guess I had no choice. "...I choose the cougar, Hork-Bajir and fly. Happy?"
IT IS DONE.
I sighed with relief and fell to my knees. Maybe this will be easy.
THE BATTLE BEGINS NOW.
"Ba-Ba-Battle?" I whimpered. Not good.
"Howler!" Erek yelled and pointed.
The Howler moved up a stairway and came to stand on my platform. He was about the size of a large man. Two arms, two legs, and five-fingered hands that looked almost human. From the wrist projected a retractable claw with four hooked steel-tipped claws. The head was black, pebbled skin. Beneath the black, in the cracks and crease of the flesh, were lines of bright red. He looked like he was made entirely of molten lava. He was wearing a series of loose belts around his torso. Each one held a different weapon. Dracon beam. Knives. Boomerangs. Guns of different sizes and shapes.
"Morph," Jake said. "Ax? You take the lead. Tobias? Get some altitude. Erek? Stay out of the way."
Stay out of the way? I wondered why he wasn't fighting. But now was not the time to ask questions.
Ax has his tail bowed and ready, three eyes on the Howler. One on me.
I didn't choose the second choice. Why was he suspicious of me? But I noticed his eye showed concern.
Orange fur sprouted on Jake's hands and arms. His fingers swelled into claws. A long tail sprung out from the base of his spine and immediately began to twitch. He was a tiger; the tiger I saw fight in the warehouse.
Takehiro's skin dried and thickened. Then, rapidly, it turned Godzilla-green and pebbly. His tongue stretched and narrowed. I watched in horror as the tip split in two and the entire thing turned yellow. His jaw shot out and was filled with large, curved, jagged teeth. He lowered himself down onto all fours as an enormous tail began to stretch out from the base of his spine. A Komodo dragon; the Komodo dragon that shielded me from getting stabbed by Visser Three in the warehouse.
Rachel was morphing to grizzly bear. A massive pillar of rough brown fur. Marco was morphing gorilla. Cassie, wolf.
Erek had moved back under the stairway. He was talking. "You've got to be careful of the Howler's voice. His howl will paralyse you, numb your senses-"
I barely heard him. I was behind Jake, Cassie, Marco and Zack as their bodies began to morph. I heard Tobias's wing fluttering above me as he gained altitude.
Ax and the Howler faced off, circling each other for half a turn. Then-
FWAPP!
Ax slashed out with his tail blade, knocking the Howler in the shoulder. Spinning him around on his weird lazy-Susan waist.
The Howler used the momentum to bring up a weapon. A Dracon beam. He fired.
Ax dodged. The shot went wide.
I was confused. Everything was happening so fast! I've only morphed once. And I've never been in such a battle like this before. "What should I morph?" I demanded.
Nobody answered.
Snow Leopard, I decided. Now wasn't the time to ask.
The Howler aimed again. Point-blank at Ax's head.
"Ax, go left!" Erek yelled from his place under the steps.
Tobias swooped out of his air with his claws forward, aiming for the Howler's sky-blue eyes. The Howler brought up a hand, moved sideways.
"Six more Howlers," Erek reported. "Coming up the stairs."
[ Forget the battle mor- ] Jake said. His orange-and-black tiger fur rapidly began to fade. His muzzle collapsed and his human mouth re-emerged. "GGGGrrrroaro - Go fly! That means everyone."
I focused on the fly DNA inside me, and began to shrink. I screamed inside my head when it happened. Spiky legs grew out of my chest. My internal organs melted away to be replaced by simpler insect organs. My mouth and nose sprouted out to become a horrible, long proboscis.
The bright Legoland was a shattered mirror of images. The fly's compound eyes saw with thousand tiny, irregular, bewildering TV sets, each tuned to a slightly different channel.
"The Howlers are here!" Erek cried.
[ Let's go! ] Jake yelled.
I powered my fly wings and took off like a jet helicopter – straight up! I saw massive red-and-black hands reaching for me. One got close and I hit reverse, zipping back through the clutching fingers.
With my compound eyes the Howlers seemed to be made of glowing purple and blue with pulsating black veins. The facets in my fun-house-mirror eyes broke them into pieces. They were everywhere around me as I flew unmolested, unnoticed.
I did a midair flip and zipped after the others.
[ Some fight, ] Rachel said.
[ Yeah, ] Marco agreed. [ We showed them who's boss. ]
At least we escaped, I thought.
After our escape, we found an Iskoort guide. A place to hide. That evening, we slept in shifts. Two on guard at all times. I was on watch with Erek, staring into the darkness. Watchful for any sound that may signal a Howler attack. Grandpa always told me to be watchful and alert.
"You can relax." Erek said. "I will hear the Howlers coming long before you will."
"Why?" I asked him.
"I am Chee," Erek told me. "Part of an android race created thousands of years ago. My hearing is vastly superior to human hearing."
"Now really... You're telling me that you're an android?" I asked.
"Yes." His visage flickered and disappeared. A chrome, dog-like face replaced it. In fact, his whole body looked like a steel dog walking on two legs.
My mouth dropped open. "This...is unreal."
Slowly, his visage appeared back. I didn't need a second time to believe him.
"So is that why you served as a lookout today?" I asked.
"No," Erek said. "I could not fight. I am programmed to be nonviolent."
"Who programmed you?" I asked.
"The Pemalites created the Chee," Erek explained. "The Pemalites were a peaceful race. Then one day, the Howlers appeared out of Z-space and decimated them. I will help you defeat the Howlers any way I can. However, I cannot kill or hunt a living being."
"...I understand. Lucky for you, you're not programmed to kill," I said, clasping my legs. "I am, in a way."
After two hours, Rachel and Tobias relieved me. Erek, being an android, needed no sleep. I curled up on one of the soft beds the Iskoort have made available for us. I tried to get some sleep. But I just couldn't. I still grasped to my legs and thought of everything. Everything that has happened to me.
"Can't sleep?"
I looked up to Cassie who was resting next to me. I nodded.
"I...keep thinking about everything," I told her.
"...Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be okay," she said with a smile. I smiled weakly.
A smell like oil and mothballs and...
"Insecticide!" Rachel warned.
We jumped out of beds, alerted.
[ Howlers! ] Tobais yelled.
The Howlers were pumping poison into our hideout. They have learned fast. Too fast! Insect morphs were no longer a choice. The stench of poison was growing stronger by the second.
I was already morphing to merlin. Takehiro into goshawk. And the others were morphing birds, too. I could stock an aviary. A bald eagle, a pair of ospreys, a northern harrier, a red-tailed hawk, a merlin, a goshawk and a peregrine falcon.
Wait a minute. I felt something familiar by the type of birds we had morphed. Was it that vis-?
[ Erek! ] Jake demanded. [ Can you project a hologram through another window? A hologram of us? ]
"Absolutely. There would be no harm to the Howlers, and it might save you. That would be well within my parameters."
[ On three, ] Jake said. [ One, two, NOW! ]
The far window slid open. Instantly eight birds flew towards it. Dracon beams burned. Flechette guns rattled. The Howlers were attacking the hologram. Jake's plan was working!
The near window opened. I spread my wings and flapped with all my strength. I blew out of the window, flapping like crazy, desperate for every foot of distance. The others instantly pulled ahead.
TSSEEEEW!
[ Agggghhhh! ] I screamed.
A pain! Like a red-hot poker driven into my wing. I've been hit!
[ Kaoru! ] Takehiro yelled.
[ I'm okay! ] I assured him. Still the pain was burning like hell. I was still flying. It wasn't over yet.
[ Down, down, down! ] Jake yelled.
The others were diving. Down into the maze of trees and bushes and flowers. I followed, blazing along the lane, inches above the heads of Iskoort out walking in the early light of dawn.
B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-t-t!
A line of flechettes tore a tree apart inches ahead of me.
The Howlers were after me!
I turned a sharp left, banking around a line of trees. A Howler burst from the vegetation ahead.
[ Pull up! ] Tobias yelled
Tseeeew! Tseeeew!
Marco's left wing was gone, falling like burning embers among the strolling Iskoort. Marco tumbled, out of control, falling like a stone. He hit the ground, disappearing from view.
Jake dived after him.
A Howler jumped from an overhanging tree. He aimed his beam weapon even as he fell.
Tseeeeew! Tseeeew!
[ Aggghhh! ] Jake hollered.
[ We have to help Jake and Marco! ] I yelled. I banked hard right.
Tree! Eek!
I slammed headfirst into a tree I never saw coming. I fell to the ground, knocked silly. An Iskoort was standing over me, staring down.
[ Call a member of Embalmers Guild! ] he called.
[ I'm not dead yet! ] I replied angrily.
Jake was hollering in my head. [ The Ellimist and Crayak have an agreement. They can't kill the Iskoort! Use the Iskoort for cover! ]
[ Ax! behind you! ]
[ Here comes another one! ]
The others were running for their lives.
[ Kaoru! ] Takehiro yelled.
[ Just go! ] I yelled at him. [ Don't worry about me! ]
My head was starting to clear. I got up.
Flap. Flap. Flap. Cassie landed next to me. [ Are you okay? ]
[ Yeah... I think so, ] I said.
[ Then let's haul! ] Cassie took off, straining for altitude.
I flapped once, twice. I was high enough to see a Howler. He was bounding towards us, his dead blue eyes focused on us. [ Cassie – watch out! ] I screamed.
TSEEEEW! The Howler fired!
A bald eagle attacked! Rachel.
I flapped up, turning towards the Howler.
He brought his Dracon beam up, aimed.
TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!
[ Agggghhhh! ]
Cassie tumbled out of the air.
[ Cassie! ] Rachel screamed.
[ I'm...I'm okay... I'll demorph... Don't worry. ]
Then, I remembered something. The vision. The aliens in the vision were the Iskoort. The birds were us. It was all happening. It was coming true!
The Howler was closing in on Cassie, weapon drawn.
[ Cassie! FLY AWAY! ] I screamed. I screamed till my lungs started to burn. [ FLY AWAY!!! ]
I dove.
Rachel dove.
I reached out, ready to rake the Howler's bald head with my talons.
TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!
The Howler fired at point-blank range.
[ NO! ] Rachel screamed.
I stared in horror. Cassie couldn't have survived that blast. Her osprey body was smoking. I cold smell the acrid odour of burning flesh. I couldn't save her in time.
Oh lord, no.
Suddenly a group of Iskoort came zipping down the path. They walked over Cassie's body and it disappeared.
[ Hey! ] I yelled.
Rachel swooped to attack.
[ Easy, easy, ] Tobias said. [ It's us. ]
Erek had created a hologram of Iskoort. Ax, Marco, and Tobias were hidden inside. Erek dropped the hologram long enough to examine Cassie, to see if there was any way he could save her.
After a tense moment, the hologram reappeared. "I'm sorry," Erek said. "Cassie is dead."
Dead? I felt myself shattered. Horrified.
The vision...came true. It really did.
[ No... ] Rachel said. Her fierce eagle eyes were blank. But I could hear the pain in her voice.
The others were silent as we rendezvoused with guide and found a new place to hide. An abandoned factory. Filled with mysterious, dusty machinery.
Erek set Cassie's osprey body down on the seat of a strange machine that was like a merry-go-round for tools. Rachel found an old blanket and covered her up. Rachel and I demorphed.
"What happened to Jake? And Takehiro?" I asked.
[ I saw them go over the edge, ] Ax said.
"Are they...gone?" I asked, shivering.
[ No, ] Tobias said harshly. [ I'm going to find them. ]
"I'll go with you," Rachel said.
[ No, ] Tobias said again. [ If the Howlers attack, you'll need maximum firepower here. I'll go alone. ]
Tobias left.
As soon as he was gone, Rachel turned to me, her eyes shining with grief and worry. Her intensity frightened me.
"This is all your fault," she said quietly.
Marco had also demorphed and watched silently from a few feet away.
[ Rachel, ] Ax said. [ We are all sad. Blaming one another will not help. ]
Rachel's eyes were locked onto mine. Blazing with anger.
"My...fault?" I asked meekly.
"You got Cassie killed," she said.
"Rachel," Marco tried.
But Rachel didn't back off. She was right up in my face. "I want you to promise me something," she said.
"What?" I asked.
"That you'll stay out of the way from now on," Rachel said. "I don't want you getting anyone else killed."
*****
Tigerlily-2250 – Ah, but Rachel will bark at her again as you saw in this chapter. But don't worry, things will turn out fine for Kaoru, hee-hee... I think. Thanks for reviewing.
Gilluin – Well, there may be but Ax's bond with Kaoru will grow stronger in later books so YES! THERE WILL BE ROMANCE BETWEEN THEM! Thanks for the review.
John - *Takes a deep breath* Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! These info really helps me with the HP fanfic! Oh, thank you! And mostly thanks for the Japanese compass animals! That helps me with the Houses of Shoyoku (Japanese school of Witchcraft and Wizardry)! And greatfully, thanks for reviewing!
Vickie: *Runs away happy to write down her ideas* This is gonna be a big success! Yipee!
A/N: Next chapter will be up soon!